At approximately 1:30 AM on Monday, November 8, five masked individuals invaded the home of Bonnie and Jason Devine, long-time anti-racist campaigners in Alberta, Canada. The intruders, armed with bats and hammers, overwhelmed Jason Devine and a friend who was visiting. Jason’s friend was beaten over the head and had his arm broken, while Jason Devine was badly beaten by all five intruders, sustaining a concussion and also requiring stitches at the hospital where both the injured were brought. Nothing was stolen from the Devine family home during this incident, although the family car, laptop computer, and other property was damaged; initial reports of a “home invasion robbery” are clearly unfounded. The Devine’s four children were asleep at the time of the attack. The five attackers—believed to be neo-Nazis—fled in a dark SUV.

Preceding the attack on the Devine household, Anti-Racist Action Calgary had distributed flyers in an area where neo-Nazis affiliated with Blood & Honour/Aryan Guard currently live. (Note: the Aryan Guard seems to have merged into the Blood & Honour/Combat 18 neo-Nazi network, not to be confused with the rival Blood & Honour network linked to Volksfront International.) Jason and Bonnie Devine are the only members of Anti-Racist Action Calgary who have a public presence in their own names, and Jason Devine has been targeted by neo-Nazis four previous times, including a February 2008 firebomb attack against a previous residence.

Calgary Police responded to this brutal attack by calling Children and Youth Services regarding the Devines’ children, due to the violence suffered by Jason Devine. These children have been allowed to return home. The attitude of the Calgary Police is unfortunately all too common when anti-racists are targeted by white supremacists.

Rose City Antifascists believe that solidarity is essential in any successful antifascist movement, and urge a maximum of support for Calgary antifascists in the aftermath of this attack. We do not share all the politics of the Devines (who are also activists within the Communist Party of Canada) but continue to agree with the Anti-Racist Action Network’s Points of Unity: “In this movement an attack on one is an attack on us all. We stand behind each other.” It is now time to stand by the Devine family and our antifascist comrades in Calgary.

The ARA Network set up a Paypal account to aid the Devine’s with expenses in the aftermath of the attack. Donations can be sent via Paypal to: support [ at ] antiracistaction [ dot ] org.

For those interested in reading about Anti-Racist Action Calgary, their website is here.

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Six months ago was anti-racist skinhead Luke Querner's 30th birthday. It was also the day Querner was shot and nearly killed in what appears to have been assassination attempt.

In the early hours of Saturday, March 27, Luke was ambushed and shot in the chest on SW 5th Avenue in downtown Portland, between Stark and Washington Street. The 30-year-old union ironworker and anti-racist skinhead, who had dedicated over a decade of his life to opposing the most vicious elements of Portland's white supremacist movement, spent the next week in a medically induced coma, fighting for his life. Rose City Antifascists, the Portland chapter of the Anti-Racist Action Network, believe that it was an element within the neo-Nazi movement which Luke had opposed for years that attempted to murder him on Saturday morning.

If the plan was to intimidate those fighting organized bigotry, it failed. Luke survived the assassination attempt and anti-racist communities in Portland remain strong. Antifascists locally and from around the world responded to the March 27 shooting with messages of support, organizing efforts against the white supremacists, and donations to help Luke with costs resulting from the shooting. Luke's story was heard internationally--translated by French, Basque, German, and Greek antifascists. Local anti-racists held benefit soul, punk, and early reggae music nights for Luke in the months that followed. Rose City Antifa hosted a panel discussion to educate Portlanders about the context of the shooting--an event that drew over one hundred community members on April 24. On July 31, anti-racist and anti-fascist events were held from coast to coast as part of a Call to Action Against Racism and Fascism, endorsed by almost two dozen organizations and responding to the broader resurgence of the extreme-Right which provided the context for Luke’s shooting. Antifascists continue to organize on an international scale to counter white power and neo-Nazi activity.

Luke's shooting has reinforced the importance of taking a firm stance against fascism, and not allowing neo-Nazis to recruit or gain a foothold in our communities. Six months on and we are more committed than ever to confront the white power movement and create space for a culture based in dignity and respect to flourish.

Rose City Antifa’s initial statement on the shooting of Luke Querner is here.

To help with Luke's continued expenses, please donate here.
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repost:

Greetings from California, Comrades!

As many have heard, a relentless anti-police movement has grown from the tragedy of Oscar Grant's murder on January 1, 2009 by former officer Johannes Mehserle.* Recently, Mehserle was convicted of the deplorable charge of involuntary manslaughter, a weak charge which carries a sentence of probation to four years in prison.


When the news of Mehserle's verdict reached the people of the bay area on July 8, the streets heated up in a style reminiscent of the anti-police riots a year and a half ago. Downtown Oakland swelled immediately after the release of the verdict. For hours after the verdict was released, people milled about, yelling at police, and listening to angry speeches. As the sun went down, the police moved in to end the spontaneous demonstration, threatening arrest of anyone who stayed on the streets. The sky was littered with helicopters and planes. Every police force in the region had gathered in downtown. Despite these threats, in the hours that followed, blocks and blocks of Oakland were wrecked, bank windows smashed, stores looted, and trash cans set on fire by people outraged by the state and society's sickening disregard for Oscar Grant's life, and by extension, those who are always the victims of police violence in the state's constant war against people of color, women, and the poor.
The night of July 8th, and long after the riots had ended, the Oakland Police Department as well as other Bay Area police departments, snatched at least 78 people from the streets.

Twelve of those comrades are still in jail. Seven of them are being held without bail for parole violations. The five others face various felonies including burglary, rioting, and arson. They have bails ranging between $60,000 and $70,000, with one man being held for $525,000. With a bail bondsman we can free them by posting around 10% of the bail. We are hopeful that some of these people will get their bail reduced in the coming weeks after their pre-trial. Regardless, raising funds now is imperative. Defendants will be held in jail until the conclusion of their trial if we do not bail them out. (During the last Oscar Grant riots in January 2009 one man was charged with arson. His trial dragged on a whole year before the city dropped the charges due to lack of evidence. This scenario is destined to repeat itself at the expense of those arrested on the 8th.)


We, the anarchists and autonomists of the Bay Area of California, lovers of rebellions, and haters of cops for their ceaseless violence against us, do humbly request for solidarity to help free these brave rebels. If your collective, scene, squat, movement has the capacity to throw a benefit, or otherwise come into money, for this legal defense fund. we couldn't need it more in order to keep our movement against the murderous police fierce and alive!



Thank you.

In Solidarity,


The Oakland 100 Support Committee

To make an online contribution use oakland100 [at] gmail.com via paypal.com

For more information on the status of the cases see http://supporttheoakland100.wordpress.com/ or email us at oakland100 [at] gmail.com


For ongoing coverage of the Justice for Oscar Grant Movement see http://www.indybay.org

Please feel free to repost and forward this widely and translate into other languages!

*For those unfamiliar with the case: Oscar Grant, a Black man, was pulled off a train in Oakland New Years Eve by a gang of police. He was laying face down on the ground when shot point blank in the back by Mehserle, a white cop. The murder was filmed by many train passengers and viewed by hundreds of thousands of people on youtube. A week after the murder herds of people from Oakland, California erupted in riots.

http://supporttheoakland100.wordpress.com/
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